A broad overview of medieval literature in English

1. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
1066
The Dark Ages
William The Conqueror
From French Province of Normandy
Fief of the Kingdom of France
French
influence over
Middle English
Feudal system
French became
the language of
the Elite

2. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Feudalism (feudal system)
Feudal
lord/
Serf/
Villein
Vassal
Fief
§The Oath of Fealty

3. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Medieval Knighthood
• Lived by very strong values & code of
conduct
• The code of chivalry or knightly
conduct
• Chivalrous conduct = bravery, truth,
honour & gallantry towards women
• Courtly love

4. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Christianity v/s Paganism

5. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Witch hunt

6. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Christianity

7. Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
7 Deadly Sins 7 Heavenly Virtues
Lust Chastity
Gluttony Temperance
Greed Charity
Sloth Diligence
Wrath Patience
Envy Kindness
Pride Humility
Christianity

8. Good v/s Evil Christ Figure Genesis
Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Fall of Satan/ Lucifer:
disobedience v/s pride
Jesus Christ: epitome of
selfless love & self-sacrifice
Fall of Man: Disobedience
(Sacred feminine)

9. Medieval Literature
Mystery, Miracle,
Passion & Morality
Plays
(Christian Ideals)
Medieval
Romance
(Knighthood;
Chivalry & Courtly
Love)
Folks Tales ,
Myths & Legends
Animal Fables:
Bestiaries
Religious
writings: non-
fiction by female
mystiques

10. Medieval Literature
• Allegorical
• Religious v/s Secular
Literature
• Alliterative
• Translations from other
languages
• Inspired by the past
(Arthurian legends, Greek,
Roman & Celtic Mythology,
Folk Tales)
• Christian values & morals
• Paganism v/s Christianity
Characteristics

11. Medieval Literature
Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love (1184-6)
1. Marriage is no excuse for not loving.
2. He who is not jealous cannot love.
3. No one can be bound by two loves.
4. Love is always growing or diminishing.
5. A lover shouldn’t take anything against the will of the
other.
6. A male cannot love until he has fully reached puberty.
7. Two years of mourning for a dead lover.
8. No one should be deprived of love without a valid reason.
9. One cannot love who is not driven by the power of love.
10. Love always departs from the dwelling place of avarice.
11. One cannot love whom one would be ashamed to marry.
12. True lover never desires the embraces of any other lover.
13. Love rarely lasts when it is revealed.
14. An easy attainment makes love contemptible.
15. Every lover turns pale in the presence of his beloved.
16. When a lover has sight of his love, his heart beats wildly.
17. A new love expels an old one.
18. Moral integrity alone makes one worthy of love.
19. If love diminishes, it quickly leaves and rarely revives.
20. A lover is always fearful.
21. Jealousy always increases the effects of love.
22. If a lover suspects another, the effects of love increase.
23. He who is vexed by love eats little and seldom sleeps.
24. Every action of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.
25. True lover only believes that which will please his
beloved.
26. Love can deny nothing to love.
27. A lover never has enough of the embraces of his beloved.
28. The slightest suspicion incites suspicion of the worst.
29. He who suffers from excessive passion cannot love.
30. The true lover is obsessed with the image of his beloved.
31. Nothing prevents a woman from being loved by two men,
or a man from being loved by two women.

12. Medieval Literature
Romance & Arthurian Legends
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
William Longland: The
Vision of the Pier’s
Plowman
Sir Thomas Malory: Le
Morte D’Arthur
(Chanson de geste)

13. Medieval Literature
Bestiaries or Beast Fables
• John Gower (medieval poetry): e.g.
The Tale of Phoebus and the Crow
• Medieval translations of Aesop’s
Fables (Greek)
• The Book of Beasts (Latin)
• Exemplum – Exempla (didacticism)
• Robert Henryson: The Morall
Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian
The Wolfe and the Lambe
The lambe, þe wolfe, contrary
of nature,
Euer diuerse & noþyng oon
þey þynke.
Boþe at onys of soden auenture
To a fresshe ryuer þey came
downe to drynke:
At þe hede spryng hy opon þe
brynke
Stondeþ þe wolfe, a forward
beste of kynde;
The sely lambe stood fer abak
behynde.
Lydgate

14. Medieval Literature
Female Mysticism
Excerpt from:
The Book of Margery Kempe
The fyrst two yer whan this creatur was
thus drawyn to owyr Lord, sche had gret
qwiete of spyryt as for ony
temptacyons. Sche mygth wel dure to
fastyn, it grevyd hir not. Sche hatyd the
joys of the world. Sche felt no rebellyon
in hyr flesch. Sche was strong, as hir
thowt, that sche dred no devylle in
helle, for sche dede so gret bodyly
penawnce. Sche thowt that sche lovyd
God mor than he hir. Sche was smet
wyth the dedly wownd of veynglory and
felt it not, for sche desyryd many tymes
that the crucifix schuld losyn hys handys
fro the crosse and halsyn hir in tokyn of
lofe.
Julian of Norwich Margery Kempe

15. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400)
• The Book of the Duchess: Allegorical Romance (poet + knight)
• The House of Fame: Epic poem (characters from Greek + Roman mythology)
• The Legend of Good Women: Short Stories of virtuous women (from mythology)
• Troilus and Criseyde: Courtly Romance (translation of Robert Henryson’s Scots poem)
• The Parlement of Foules: Beast Fable
• The Romaunt of the Rose: Allegorical Romance (translation from French)
"See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë
Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,
For hit is whyt."

16. Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
Narrator
Knight
Squire
- 29 pilgrims representing all classes, all professions in medieval England
- 22 Tales, 2 Fragments
Friar
Prioress
Two nuns
Summoner
Pardoner
Parson
Monk
Nun’s Priest
Clerk
Miller
Manciple
Yeoman
Shipman
Physician
Merchant
Franklin
Reeve
Cook
Lawyer “Man of Law”
Wife of Bath

17. Geoffrey Chaucer:
Canterbury Tales

18. Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
The Miller’s Tale
Fabliau
Parody of Romance
The Wife of Bath’s Tale
The Nun's Priest's Tale
Bestiary

19. Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
The Knight’s Tale
Courtly Romance
Religious mysticism
The Pardoner’s Tale
The Second Nun's Tale
Exemplar